SAFALE S-04 fermentation question

I have read that this yeast ferments fast. Can anyone say HOW fast? How long can I expect it to ferment? Either way, im leaving it in the carboy for 3 weeks minimum, but im just curious about the timeline on the fermentation.

My last batch was the Common Room ESB using s04 and I think it was done in 3 days. That strain is a beast

gcdowd said:

My last batch was the Common Room ESB using s04 and I think it was done in 3 days. That strain is a beast

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Was it overly vigorous? I'll be doing an ESB in a couple of weeks with S-04. Do I need to just rig a blow-off tube at the start and forget the airlock?

BigFloyd said:

Was it overly vigorous? I'll be doing an ESB in a couple of weeks with S-04. Do I need to just rig a blow-off tube at the start and forget the airlock?

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I did not need a blow off but I fermented 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon bucket. The krausen line wasn't really that high either buy if you have a carboy, you may want to rig one to be safe.

This strain is indeed a beast. If you do not have a ton of head space make sure you rig a blow off. I ended up with a mess due to not using a blow off with it recently. Low 60's if you want clean, crank the temp up to around 68 if you want some nice fruity esters.

gcdowd said:

I did not need a blow off but I fermented 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon bucket. The krausen line wasn't really that high either buy if you have a carboy, you may want to rig one to be safe.

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I have a 6.5 gallon better bottle carboy. Im using an airlock, but am ready to attach blow off tube if needed.

It depends on the temp. I ferment at the low end 60-62F, and it bubbles steadily for up to a week. An airlock is fine at these temps. At higher temps, I've read it goes off pretty fast.

Well, My room temps are steady at around 65. Any lower and my wife starts acting stupid. I know my actual fermentaton temp will be a little higher. Is it too late to set it in some water to gt the temps down? Just pitched the yeast around 0300 and it is starting to bubble pretty actively now.

I fermented this at around 61-62 and it was fast and clean. I'd say it may be too late to get your temp down but it can't hurt. You may even want some of those estery flavors, they can be quite nice. Either way, 65 ain't bad. Do you have a temp strip on your ferm vessel?

Edit: just saw you pitched your yeast at 3, definitely NOT too late for temp correction

I just stuck the fermenter in a large rubbermaid container and filled it with water that had a 54.6 temp. Dont have a strip on this carboy to see the temp, so Im just going to measure temp of water around it. Im sure the water will warm up to 58-60 or so which should lower the temp of the beer to mid 60's at least, I would think. Any thoughts on that?

I used this yeast last Saturday. Lag was short and there was plenty of airlock activity within a few hours, which was vigorous for about two days, then slowed down and is non-existent now, 6 days later. The temperature was steady at around 63-64. I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, so I don't know if it's done or not, but I plan to leave it another week before doing anything else to it. I do 3 gallon batches and there's just enough headroom in the bucket, I didn't need a blowoff but had one on standby just in case.

GeorgiaTiger said:

I just stuck the fermenter in a large rubbermaid container and filled it with water that had a 54.6 temp. Dont have a strip on this carboy to see the temp, so Im just going to measure temp of water around it. Im sure the water will warm up to 58-60 or so which should lower the temp of the beer to mid 60's at least, I would think. Any thoughts on that?

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Should definitely work. Also, once most of the fermenation was done, i moved it to a warmer area (68 or so) and got a few more points out of it. I would definitely recommend doing that.

gcdowd said:

Should definitely work. Also, once most of the fermenation was done, i moved it to a warmer area (68 or so) and got a few more points out of it. I would definitely recommend doing that.

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good idea...will do.

And of course (as you already know), leave it in primary at least 2-3 weeks. I found that this yeast takes a bit to clean up

Oh yeah...i do 3 weeks minimum...

gcdowd said:

Should definitely work. Also, once most of the fermenation was done, i moved it to a warmer area (68 or so) and got a few more points out of it. I would definitely recommend doing that.

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+1. I like to start toward the low end of the temp range and slowly move up into the middle after the exponential growth phase has slacked off. That's when a digitally controlled fermentation chamber comes in quite handy.

Cooling your wort a bit lower (like 62-64*F) and pitching at that same low temp is something you may want to try as well.